Gerald and Betty Ford with Richard and Pat Nixon as the latter depart the White House in disgrace on August 9, 1974. Betty Ford, the former first lady whose triumph over drug and alcohol addiction became a beacon of hope for addicts and the inspiration for her Betty Ford Center in California, died at age. [3][19] Ford took doses of this medication in excess of her prescription. [3], During the primaries, Ford recorded radio advertisements on behalf of the campaign that were broadcast in New Hampshire. With Betty Ford you had a progressive woman . What was the location of death? That is why I loved this stuff so much. [3], Ford campaigned actively both during primary elections and the general election. She died Friday at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. and her cause of death was not immediately clear. In 1978, the Ford family staged an intervention, and forced Betty to confront her addition to alcohol and pain pills. Afterwards, Ford stated she was impressed with the conduct of the refugees. The Betty Ford Center board endorsed the merger Tuesday. Your cross will be his work. She was raised by her parents William and Hortense Bloomer. July 8, 2011 — -- Betty Ford, wife of former President Gerald Ford and the founder of the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse and addiction, has died at age 93. [84], Ford published her first memoir in 1978, The Times of My Life, in which she discussed her battle with addiction. [69], During their final year in the White House, the Fords hosted eleven state dinners. [21] Ford would, ultimately, for most of the nine months she was second lady, be a high-profile public figure. Since 1982 Siena College Research Institute has conducted occasional surveys asking historians to assess American first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president. [3] Ford received support from her family and managed to resume a busy lifestyle. At one point, they lived in Toledo, Ohio, where Elizabeth was employed at the department store Lasalle & Koch as a demonstrator, a job that entailed being a model and saleswoman. John Robert Greene. [19] Ford said, during her husband's failed 1976 presidential campaign, "I would give my life to have Jerry have my poll numbers. YouTube. She explained that, while her husband had attended two sessions with a psychiatric doctor, those sessions were for her care, and not care of his own. [76] In her remarks, Mrs. Cheney noted that July 14 would have been Gerald Ford's 98th birthday. In 2003, Ford produced another book, Healing and Hope: Six Women from the Betty Ford Center Share Their Powerful Journeys of Addiction and Recovery. ", Tobin, Leesa E. "Betty Ford as first lady: A woman for women.". She became well known for her openness. "Did they dislike her? The campaigns of the previous three presidents that sought election to an additional term (Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon) had needed to manufacture campaign publicity involving their first ladies (Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, and Pat Nixon). In 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center in California. During her life she helped change the way Americans think and talk about breast cancer, women's rights and substance abuse. [19] The use of Ford in such a manner to promote her husband's candidacy was not the work of the campaign itself, but rather, produced by supporters outside of the campaign organization. Ford surprised the media and the public by explicitly supporting a woman's right to an abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and grass roots activism. The couple moved frequently because of his work. Penn State World Campus (2013). She served as the honorary president of the National Lupus Foundation, regarding lupus as a disease which impacted women, yet received minimal public attention. "[29] She was regarded to be the most politically outspoken first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt. "Ford and Ford" in Scott Kaufman, ed. Betty Ford was a former First Lady of the United States (August 9th, 1974 - January 20th, 1977). In addition, she was a passionate supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Betty Ford became the first lady of the United States when her husband, Gerald Ford, assumed the office following President Richard Nixon's resignation. Actress Betty White died after suffering a stroke six days prior, according to her death certificate. [42][43][44] Gerald Ford did not know about or see the photo until 1994. She decided to establish the Betty Ford Center with gender specific treatment for men and women (Northouse, 2013) Northouse, P. G. (2013). She was married to Gerald Ford for 58 years. Shortly after becoming president in 1974, Ford said, "I am indebted to no man and to only one woman, my dear wife.". Established in 1949 on lakeside acreage in Center City, Minnesota, the Hazelden Betty Ford . She instead attended the Bennington School of Dance in Bennington, Vermont, for two summers, where she studied under director Martha Hill with choreographers Martha Graham and Hanya Holm. July 12, 2011 This experience has been credited with further cementing Ford's understanding of gender-based income inequalities between individuals doing the same work. However, Ford simply responded by giving the explanation that it was not something she had tried to hide, but, rather, something she had only not shared with the news media because none of them had broached the topic in their previous questions to her. All the way there I was telling myself how it would not change anything. Ford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush in 1991. As it turns out, Betty Ford did send a letter to Michelle Obama. Following her White House years, she continued to lobby for the ERA and remained active in the feminist movement. [65] Ford decided to be open about her illness because "There had been so much cover-up during Watergate that we wanted to be sure there would be no cover-up in the Ford administration. The 2008 survey also ranked Ford the 5th-highest in their assessment of first ladies who were their own women as well as 5th-highest in courage. [21] Ford became overwhelmed by the media attention she received and became somewhat reclusive for a period early into her time as second lady. A contrast was publicly drawn between Ford and Nancy Reagan, the wife of Ford's primary election challenger Ronald Reagan. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? "[19], Ford avidly supported the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. [3][12] With her husband assuming the office of vice president, Ford became the second lady of the United States. Throughout her husband's term in office, she maintained high approval ratings and was considered to be an influential first lady. She joined Graham's auxiliary troupe and eventually performed with the company at Carnegie Hall. Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness following her 1974 mastectomy. [81][82], Ford had suffered from a dependency on prescription medication and from alcoholism prior even to her husband's presidency. At the time Betty Ford, the wife of former President Gerald Ford, was one of the most admired women in the United States. [11] She had, three years into the marriage, concluded that their relationship was a failure. [35] The New York News Service wrote that Ford was, "constitutionally incapable of uttering 'no comment' or otherwise fudging an answer.". Betty Ford "became known for her openness and candor" (Northouse, 2013) and remained true to herself, she did not change who she was, or her core values because of her new position as First Lady. Betty underwent a radical mastectomy at Bethesda Naval Hospital and inadvertently destigmatized breast cancer by addressing her illness publicly during a White House press conference. Ford would ultimately develop an addiction to prescription medication (and would ultimately confront and recover from this addiction in 1978). [38] In January 1976, Ford made a cameo appearance on the popular television program The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In 1985, Ford received the Los Angeles AIDS Projects "Commitment to Life Award". This dinner was part of the American bicentennial celebrations, and was held in tents on the South Lawn of the White House. [19][61] In a 1975 interview with the news program 60 Minutes, Ford called Roe v. Wade a "great, great decision". LOS ANGELES, California -- Actress Betty White passed away in her sleep on Friday, her agent has confirmed to ABC News. [103], Only a part of Betty Ford's legacy will be that of her role as first lady. July 8, 2011 Mrs. Betty Ford passes away at 93 years of age. [114], In 1975, when Time named "American women" as its "Time Person of the Year",[39] the magazine profiled Ford as one of eleven women selected to represent "American women". [24] Ford's attendance at the funeral was, in actuality, a break from the administration. Betty Ford (1918-2011) was the wife of Gerald Ford, who was the 38th president of the United States between 1974 and 1977. She continued to strongly advocate and lobby politicians and state legislatures for passage of the ERA. Betty Ford Birthday and Date of Death. [46][47] The photo was subsequently published and is regarded as an "iconic" photograph of Ford's time as First Lady. Ford made the decision that year to erect a tent in the White House Rose Garden to host dinners outside. [5] At the age of 14, she began modeling clothes and teaching children popular dances, such as the foxtrot, waltz, and big apple, to earn money in the wake of the Great Depression. She desired to have a family with children and was unhappy with the frequent moves between cities she had experienced in her marriage. "Jerry did not want this," she wrote. [3], Spiro Agnew resigned as vice president on October 10, 1973. ", McClellan, Michelle L. "Fame through Shame: Women Alcoholics, Celebrity, and Disclosure. She would be given prescription medication, including Valium. In the first of adjustments for politics, he had asked her to delay the wedding until shortly before the primary election because, as The New York Times reported, "Jerry was running for Congress and wasn't sure how voters might feel about his marrying a divorced ex-dancer. She became an advocate for breast cancer research and early detection. Betty Bloomer Warren dances in "Fantasy," 1945. The Washington Post reported that Ford's disclosure of alcoholism came as a surprise to a number of Ford's close friends, who had regarded her as merely a social drinker and were oblivious to her drinking problem. "My understanding is it was natural causes. President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also cited Ford's dedication to woman's rights and substance abuse issues, and recalled honoring her during her lifetime. The LA County death . [50] In 1974, Ford placed second in the poll. Gerald and Betty Ford on their wedding day, October 15, 1948 In 1947 a friend introduced her to Gerald R. Ford, Jr., a young lawyer who had served as Navy lieutenant during World War II. [19], During a January 1984 address in Michigan to a crowd of individuals who were in the early stages of alcohol and drug dependency treatment, Ford declared that the six years since she began her treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, "have been the best years in my life from the standpoint of feeling healthier and feeling more comfortable with myself". Ford's failure to conduct a solo trip is not all that extraordinary, however. 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